Annual General Meetings are usually a bit of a chore. Held as a requirement of an organization’s articles of incorporation or by-laws, diehard members and the like can be trusted to dutifully attend. But social events of note they’re often not. Except for the Dunvegan Recreation Association’s AGM. If you attend only one Annual General Meeting this year, this is the one I would recommend. It has it all. Great food (in which you must play a part, as the first half of the event is a pot luck). Great mingling (With no place anymore where the lives of Dunveganites intersect – like a post office or general store – events such as this help old friends and new neighbours fan the flames of friendship.) And great erudition… at least in non-election years, of which this is one. (The time normally consumed by the nomination and election of officers and directors can be used for more mind- expanding endeavours.)
This Friday, president Ben will provide members with a short presentation on the proposed changes to Dunvegan’s playground, as well as the accessibility upgrades that must be made to the hall… including the quarter-inch shift that could cost thousands and thousands of dollars. DRA spokesperson and web master, Laurie Maus, wanted me to extend an invitation far and wide. “While it is not an election year,” said Laurie, “we would welcome new volunteers on the committee to bring in new ideas and enthusiasm.”
So this coming Friday, January 20th, make your way to 19503 County Road 24. That’s just west of the Dunvegan crossroads. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you see the in-line parking lot by the side of the road, so characteristic of rural events like these. And don’t forget to bring your family and a main dish, salad, side or dessert. PS: the action starts around 6:00 PM and wraps up by 8:00 PM or so.
Another “Black” Comedy
On Saturday, January 21st at 7:00 PM the DRA’s “Saturday Night at the Movies” series starts up again. Laurie Maus tells me they took all the movie suggestions from the first SNAM event and drew the choice for January’s film from a hat. The winner was Men in Black. Dry humor at its best, this film stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as agents of a secret organization that protects the earth from the Scum of the Universe. Bring your own liquid refreshments and a comfy cushion or chair and the DRA will supply the popcorn. While there’s no formal admission, donations towards the new playground equipment will be gratefully accepted. Remember, this is not intended as a family event. Instead, the idea is to provide a night out close to home for us older folks.
Sleigh Bells Rescue
A last minute call from Dan Lacombe last weekend restored my faith in human nature. Dan had heard from Peter Wensink that the 2017 Dunvegan Winter Carnival was at risk of going without sleigh rides. And he volunteered to fill the gap… snow or no snow. He even has a rubber-wheeled sleigh (also known as a wagon) that he uses when Mother Nature fails to co-operate.
I’ll have all the details about the upcoming Carnival in next week’s column. But be sure to “save the date.” February 4th, that is. Terry has already started baking her famous butter rolls, and we’re counting on you to eat them.
MPAC D.I.Y.
How may we frustrate you? If this isn’t the motto of Ontario’s Property Assessment Corporation or (MPAC), it should be. Like so many rural Ontarians. Terry and I are contesting MPAC’s latest evaluation or our abode and the land upon which it stands. So in preparation for making a RFR, we headed to MPAC’s “AboutMyProperty.ca” web site. (Like all government organizations, MPAC is in love with acronyms. RFR stands for “Request for Reconsideration.”)
Instead of providing us with the list of similar properties in our area they used to reach their magic number, we found ourselves enmeshed in a Do-It-Yourself project from hell. On the “AboutMyProperty.ca” web site, you’re shown a tiny map with your property outlined in blue. The next step, at least in theory, is to search your neighbourhood for comparative parcels. They’re supposedly marked in purple. The problem is, of course, that the application, and its map, were designed by city folks for city folks. The only way you can spot the purple pieces of the puzzle is to be zoomed in tight. Now, this is not a hardship for urban property owners. Even at the closest magnification, a whole mess of postage-sized lots can probably be seen. But for us hicks in the sticks, where the lots are 50 to 100 acres and more in size, you find yourself scrolling up, down and sideways until the cows come home.
In an attempt to makes the task a bit easier, I looked for a button that would at least enlarge the map to the size of the screen. You know, like YouTube or any other photo or video sites does. But I looked in vain. Assuming the fault lay with me (I’m no technical wizard), I hit the Live Chat button to “talk” with an agent in real time. After explaining to her the difference between zooming in on the map and enlarging it to fill the screen (the YouTube analogy bridged the age gap here), I learned that no, this rudimentary functionality had not been incorporated into the site’s design. More than a little surprised, I thought I should keep a record of our on-line conversation and asked her where the standard “print chat” button was. Here again my inquiry elicited a negative reply. There was none. And she couldn’t e-mail me a copy either. However, she did suggest that I could copy and paste the text on the screen into a Microsoft Word document. See what I mean about D.Y.I.?
To be fair, the agent did say that MPAC could provide a list of comparable properties to save me having to struggle with the on-line map search. The only hitch was that this would take anywhere from six to eight weeks. There was no explanation as to why they couldn’t just e-mail us the lists of comparison properties they used in the first place. But I suspect it’s because they don’t exist. My theory is that the ever-rising valuations are determined by throwing a dart at a list of percentages thumb tacked to a wall.
In closing, I’d love to know if anyone out there has been successful in having their MPAC valuation adjusted downward. If so, I’d love to hear from you.
Water Rental Fee?
And while we’re on the topic of things in Ontario (like property valuations) that have skyrocketed by 50% and more, let’s not overlook the Liberal’s love of gouging electricity users — a self-defeating tactic that’s threatening to drive businesses and jobs out of the province. As Globe & Mail columnist Margaret Wente pointed out in a January 4, 2017 article, companies like Automatic Coating, a small Scarborough, Ontario manufacturer with 75 employees are struggling to cope with staggering hydro bills. Their electricity costs are through the roof… $30,000 or $40,000 a month… primarily because of the provincial Liberals pig-headed commitment to green energy that, in Wente’s opinion, “Ontario doesn’t need and can’t use.”
In reality, a minuscule portion of our hydro bill is for the electricity we use. That’s why you can shut off everything in your home and/or barn and you’ll still get hit with a whopping bill each month. The culprit is the “Global Adjustment” charge… a vague catchall that’s an offset for government boondoggles and incompetence. And it gets worse.
Were you aware that your monthly bill even includes a “water rental fee”? Originally designed as a tax on the water used to generate hydroelectric power, the funds were to have offset provincial services like health care. However, it’s far more likely that this hidden tax has morphed into a cash cow feeding the province’s General Revenue coffers. Columnist, Angela Dorie writing in the Eastern Ontario Famer’s Forum estimates that the water rental fee has generated $1.6 BILLION over the past five years alone.
Where will it all end? Can “Patrick Who” turn it around and lead the Conservatives to victory in 2018? It’s hard to say. The Liberals are already looking to ensure labour peace by buying off two more teacher unions before the next election. Like black holes in outer space, they’re trying to draw us all in. So stand firm. And, if you do find yourself wavering, visit “NoLiberals.ca”. There you will find a menu of over 18 Liberal flimflams, from eHealth and Eco Fees to ORNGE air ambulances and the gas plant scandal. It’s like a refresher course in ineptitude.
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